SECU staff consulting with the community in Colombia

What is SECU?

What is SECU?

    What We Do
      Responding to Concerns

      We respond to concerns about potential harm caused by UNDP. 

      • The Social and Environmental Compliance Unit (SECU) reviews requests from people or communities who believe a UNDP project has caused or may cause harm to them or the environment.
      • SECU was created to help protect people and the environment from harm that might be caused by UNDP-supported projects or activities.
      • SECU may determine whether UNDP followed its social and environmental standards and commitments.
      Investigation Guidelines

      SECU’s work is explained in detail in its Investigation Guidelines:

      "The Compliance Review Investigations process...is intended to investigate alleged or potential violations of UNDP's Social and Environmental Standards (SES), the Social and Environmental Screening Procedure (SESP), and the social and environmental commitments made by UNDP in the context of a specific funding programme or project."

      Accountability Mechanism

      We are part of a bigger system.

      SECU is one of two ways to address concerns.

      The other way is the Stakeholder Response Mechanism (SRM), which helps find solutions through conversations and problem-solving. 

      SECU can also start an investigation on its own, if we identity a serious risk of harm, even when no one has submitted a request.

      SECU SRM logo featuring green and blue tree graphics and unit names

      Joint SECU and SRM logo.

      Mission Video

      We have a mission.

      🎥Watch our mission video:

        Policy Basis and Guidelines

        Statement on non-retaliation

        SECU is committed to ensuring that anyone who engages with us can do so safely. Retaliation or reprisals against people who seek information, raise concerns, or file a complaint with SECU is not tolerated. UNDP seeks to identify, prevent, and address any risk of retaliation connected to participation in project activities, the use of project-level grievance mechanisms, SRM, or SECU.

         

        SECU makes sure that UNDP follows:

        1. The Social and Environmental Standards (SES);
        2. The Social and Environmental Screening Procedure (SESP); and
        3. Other social and environmental promises made by UNDP.

        Note: For older projects (before 2015), we use the standards applicable for that project in our investigation.